Events 7-24

Since I competed on Saturday I used this more as a conditioning day.

Monster Dumbbell
I worked up to some singles at 147, tried 162 and failed, and then did a little medly with a 147 DB, 200 keg and 250 log.

Jump Rope, dumbbell, kettle bell medley thing
I started out with 2 sets of 100 jumps.
Then I decided to do 50 jumps, a dumbbell complex with 15 pounds of side raises, front raises, ohp, rows, and thrusters, another 50 jumps and a set of kb snatches. I did this 3 times, so 300 jumps and 3 sets of complexes and kb snatches.

Tire Flip
600 pound tire
3 sets of 5 flips

Keg Carry
200 pound keg
50 feet and back twice (50 feet, drop the keg, pick it back up, 50 feet back)
60 feet and back twice

That was good for the day and we were all ready to eat since Jesse was cooking some burgers for lunch.

Dino Gym Challenge 7-23

Max Axel
280, 300, 320
1st place
These were all easy and I think I could have probably pressed 20-30 more pounds. These felt a lot better than they had in training.

Fingal Fingers
I was last to go and heard from everyone before me how hot these were from the sun. I ended up finishing the 3 heavy fingers in just over 26 seconds. I found out they weren't joking about how hot they were and ended up with my hands getting burnt a little bit.
1st place

Farmers (300 per hand)
I didn't feel like I was moving all that fast, but finished a 70' run in 10.09 seconds so not too slow.
1st place

Power Stairs
3 steps
300, 350, 400 pounds implements
16.xx seconds
1st place

Stones
I am not real proud of how stones went, but I learned a valuable lesson. I will never again wear sleeves for stones when it is that hot out. I ended up having a bunch of sweat run out of my sleeves and onto my tacky and it turned it into vaseline. I also should have taken one or two more attempts. I still finished first in the heavyweights but am dissapointed with what I loaded.

I got first in the heavyweights and had a really fun day with some interesting events you don't see very often. It was also a good test to be out in the heat. It was 101 degrees at 10 am and 112 by the time we wrapped up.

The Dino Gym is one of the most interesting places I have been and I envy their setup and equipment. The people who train there are extremely lucky. It was good to see some familiar faces and a few new people. Overall it was a pretty relaxed competition I felt like and was a very good time.

7-17 Events

Axel

Worked up to a single at 300. It was ugly, but I pressed it. I'm hoping to hit around 320 at the Dino meet.

Farmers

310 pounds for 50 feet or so. This wasn't fast enough. I need to work on my speed on farmers again.

Stones

worked up to 2 doubles with the 405 stone

Jesse and I did 5 runs for 90' with 90 pounds on my prowler with maybe 20-30 seconds between runs and that was enough.

I just hope I can figure out the fingers and that power stairs go well at the contest.

7-15 Squat

Weight over bar

Jesse weighed his implement and apparently it only weighed 52, I don't think the 4 pounds will make much of a difference.

I cleared 14 easy and went to 15. I was having a hard time getting my legs into it and was worrying too much about hitting something. I think I have 15+ in me. This was the first time I'd done this so I'm happy with it.

Front Squat

140 x 5 x 2

230 x 3

320 x 1

370 x 1

410 x 1 (35 pound PR)

Tire Flip (500) keg carry (220) medley

2 runs of 50' tire flips and keg carry

1 run 50' tire flip 100' keg carry

I did some sledge swings and called it a night.

Upper 7-14

random warm up things

Incline
135x5
185x5
225x5
245x5
265x3

Single Arm DB Press

85 x 3 x 2

100 x 3 x 2

Ab plank tabata

jump rope tabata

I had to be done with this workout quick so I got what I needed done.

Equipment and Intestinal Fortitude

I read a post by Amy Wattles about how her kids and their friends have a huge advantage in their training lives because they have access to nice equipment. I somewhat agree with this, but I don't really think what equipment you have means a whole lot, and this is definitely not a crack at her or the manufacturer of her equipment. Of course there are some essential things, and some accessories that are very helpful to have especially if you are involved in a specific strength sport like Strongman. What I don't agree with is that you need to spend a lot of money and have "name brand" equipment to be successful. Am I at a disadvantage because I have a bunch of homemade equipment that cost me very little money compared to buying all of it?

The answer is no. I have access to everything I need and nothing I don't, including a group of great training partners, but that's a whole different topic. Plus I know if there is something I actually need, or just want that I can probably make it for about 1/2 of what I would get charged for shipping from some companies.

Is it nice to have a whole gym full of nice shiny equipment and anything you could desire? Yes it is. I've been there and had access to one of the nicest and best equipped facilities in the country. Did it make me a better lifter. Not one bit. Did having coaches watch over and tell me exactly what to do in the gym make me better? Nope. There is only one thing that really matters in the weight room and athletic development in general and that's your internal drive to meet or surpass your potential.

When I played football I didn't realize what I had and I let it slip through my fingers. I didn't give a shit about getting stronger or better really. I just went through the motions and got in and out and did what I had to. I actually thought that just because I was in a nice facility with knowledgeable coaches I would automatically get stronger and more athletic. I had no real drive to get better or take responsibility for my training, I was just waiting for results without working for them. Now I lift in my basement and a garage and I'm stronger and developing better than ever. The difference is that I am motivated and want to get better.

Inner drive is what makes someone the athlete they are, not equipment.

7-12 Deads

I read Andy Bolton's article on deadlift training, so of course I decided pulling from blocks was a super idea. I did want to start pulling from lots of different heights anyway, so this fit.

Random warm up things (sledge swings, jump rope, light snatch, kb snatch, etc.)

8" Block Pull
245 x 5
335 x 5
425 x 3
515 x 2
605 x 1
625 x 1

These were all pretty easy. I haven't ever really pulled from this height and I think I could have gone heavier, but that was good for the night.

335 x 5 5 sets from the floor

Front Squat
I did a little bit of this.

BB rows
Jesse had this stupid idea about doing a pyramid of 1-10 and back down to 1, so 100 reps total. We had 100's on the bar so I decided 245 was a good weight to do this with.

I made it up and down, and I had 911 dialed up and ready to go for Jesse by the time he finished 9 on the way up.

Overall the workout felt good, but I kind of wish I would have done more pulling because they were all pretty easy and I'm not really feeling it too much. I really need to figure out what the hell I need to do to get my deadlift to move. Also, the workout took way, way longer than it should have in my opinion. I got there at about 530 and wasn't on my way home until 8. I have been known to train slow from time to time, and I need to work on my pace, but 2.5 hours for basically 3 lifts is ridiculous, especially deadlifts since they usually move pretty quick.

Events 7/10

Axle C&P

110x5

160x5

200x3

240x1

270x1

300x1

320x1

attempted 335, the clean was pretty easy, but I didn't have it in me to press it out today

Farmers

265 x 50 feet x 2 runs

I figured I would take it lighter on these today.

Stones

230 or 270 x 5

360 x 1, I meant to do the 310 but picked this up instead

405 x 1

Medley

load stone 5 times and do a 50' sled drag

230 or 270 stone and 400 sled

330 stone and 400 sled 2 times

That was pretty much it for the day. It was probably one of the most humid days I can remember and the heat was kind of overwhelming at this point.

Events 7/3

Axel
This didn't go so well because my hand and forearm were so sore I couldn't get set under the bar very well.
I worked up to 280, which I planned to do reps at and my hand hurt too much to press it. I guess I'll be deloading and doing some other stuff to try to get this recovered and fixed.

Power Stairs
9 quick reps with 350

Stones
Worked up to one rep with the 405.

Keg Medley
270, 250, 220

Carried each 40', ran back and got the next. I didn't time this. The first run was slow, the second wasn't as slow.
I think I pulled something in my left forearm, which was sore anyway, so I maybe should have considered that before doing these.

Prowler (my prowler)
2 60' sprints with 140 pounds
2 40' runs with 240 pounds

2 prowler, sledge swing medleys - 40' run with 240, run back and do 10 swings per arm with 16 pound sledge, repeat for one medley.

2 prowler suicides with 240 pounds - 50, back 40 back, 20 back
one on the low handles down, one all on high handles

Then Jesse decided he wanted to try this stupid crossfit wod, which was supposed to be 135 clean and press for 30 reps as fast as possible. We did it with 95 to see how bad it was. I finished in 1:12.

So events didn't go so well, but we got a ton of conditioning in.

Upper Body 6/30

Bench
135x5
185x5
225x5
275x3
315x3 2 sets
315x8

Seated OHP
135x10
145x8
155x6
165x4
185x2
205x2
225x1

DB Incline
85x5 x 2

My shoulders and forearm started to hurt on the inclines so I called it a night.